by
John Bednarowskisportseditor@mdjonline.comThe Marietta Daily Journal

October 20, 2013 01:05 AM | 2783 views | 1 | 26 | |

Four days before Christmas, football will be in full swing at Powder Springs’ McEachern High School.

The American Youth Council recently announced the formation of the Georgia Northwest All-Star Bowl. The game will feature the top high school seniors of Bartow, Cherokee, Douglas and Paulding counties against one another.

It will be paired with the seventh annual Cobb All-Star Senior Bowl as part of a doubleheader showcase.

The Georgia Northwest game is scheduled for a 10 a.m. kickoff at Walter Cantrell Stadium, with the Cobb game to follow at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 if purchased from a player prior to game day, or $10 at the gate. Players will have tickets for purchase beginning Nov. 1.

One ticket is good for both games.

“We’re back in the doubleheader business,” said McEachern athletic director Jimmy Dorsey, whose school has hosted the “Battle of I-75” doubleheader at the beginning of the high school season each of the last two years. “Our facility is kid of designed for these kind of events. And, in the long run, it’s all for the kids.”

Michael Siano, director of programs for the AYC, said the idea for the Georgia Northwest game came out of a request from North Paulding coach Scott Jones. Jones, the former South Cobb and Kennesaw Mountain coach, wanted the AYC to try to put together a game featuring schools from Paulding and Douglas counties, but Siano said it may not be as successful if there were too few schools involved.

That’s when Siano got the schools from Cherokee and Bartow involved.

“We went through all the (county) athletic directors,” Siano said. “They talked about it for more than a month. We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Players from Bartow and Cherokee counties (the “Titans”) will play against those from Paulding and Douglas (the “Giants”). Creekview’s Terry Crowder will coach the Titans, with Jones coaching the Giants.

“Someone just came up and asked me to do it,” Crowder said. “This will be the initial one featuring Cherokee County, and I think we can do something special for these boys. It’s a big honor to be a part of it.”

Crowder said he is looking forward to not only coaching players from the other Cherokee County teams, but those from Bartow as well.

“It is really fun to coach other kids and watch them compete against each other in practice and then try to put in an offense and defense in a short period of time,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun for us.”

The coaches for the Cobb game will be Campbell’s Harris Rainbow and Whitefield Academy’s Jimmy Fields.

Rainbow will coach the “Nationals” team built of players from Campbell, Harrison, Hillgrove, Kell, Kennesaw Mountain, North Cobb, North Cobb Christian, Osborne, Pebblebrook, Walton and Walker.

The NSFL(National Spring Football League, Georgia Blaze Professional football team and Blazin Beauties Cheerleaders will attend the Cobb All-Star Senior Bowl to support the players of McEachern High where the share the Playing Field. GA Blaze Professional football is excited about their up coming 2014 season where the home field is McEachern Warriors, high school field. What awesome season for both team!

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